Friday, December 2, 2011

GOP Candidates: Can’t buy me love…

The GOP candidates are having a hard time buying some love for their campaigns.

Most of the 12 Republican primary voters who gathered here to participate in a focus group that NBC/WSJ pollster Peter Hart (D) conducted for the Annenberg Public Policy Center believe the country is headed in the wrong direction.

They’re not hopeful about the future. And they don’t like President Obama’s leadership. But they didn’t exactly love the GOP candidates.

That was especially true of Mitt Romney. When asked who Romney would be if he were a member of their family, they answered, "black sheep," "fun neighbor," "cousin," "second cousin," "dad that was never home."

By comparison, the responses for Newt Gingrich were "grandfather," "father," "my favorite uncle," and "uncle who keeps bringing home different wives." When asked who they would like to serve as their character witness if they were in trouble, just one Republican mentioned Romney. And when Hart pressed them to further talk about Romney if he becomes president, one person described him as a "placeholder."

When asked to list Gingrich's strengths, they responded, "proven track record," "knows how the system works," "negotiator," "doer," and "good with foreign policy."

When it came to Herman Cain words used to describe him ranged from: "trouble," "has no chance," "damaged," to "unelectable."

The remaining candidates were given little attention by the group. The question is when are they going to get the message? None of them stand a chance in hell of being nominated for president.